21 Lessons I’ve Learnt Since Turning 21 – JadeXO

Turning 21? These might just be some of the lessons you’ll learn

On March 1st this year, I turned 21. This is obviously one of those ‘milestone’ birthdays and I spent that whole week on a cruise with my family and my best friend. I couldn’t have spent my birthday a better way.

I’ve learnt a lot this year, some good and some bad, but ultimately they have shaped me into who I am today and that’s what is most important!

WHAT I’VE LEARNT SINCE TURNING 21

You may technically be considered an ‘ADULT’, but chances are you won’t know what the hell you’re doing.
I learnt this lesson the hard way. I’ve always had a huge passion for writing but found it hard to get the confidence to put my work out there, more specifically, here. I had already started two blogs beforehand but something just didn’t feel right. Little did I know, I would find my inspiration a few months after turning 21!

Love will find you, but not when you’re looking for it.I’m not going to lie, I was pretty lonely leading up to my 21st birthday. I was getting to the point where I was starting to wonder if I would ever find love again. Two weeks before my birthday, I went out on a date on Valentine’s Day (cliche right? Lucky he was cute ;)) and now I’m still with that exact same handsome man, 8 months later.

You will lose friends, but you’ll gain life long ones instead.I’ve lost friends that I thought would be around forever, but I’ve gained friends that will last a life time. The universe works in mysterious ways, but ultimately, it works in the way that it perfect just for YOU.

Life will throw you curve balls, but it’s ultimately up to YOU to figure out what’s right for you.Remember that date that I had on Valentine’s Day? Yes, I’m still with him, but not without struggles. Life will throw you curve balls when you least expect it, and you have to do what you think is right for you. It might take you weeks or months to figure it out, but you will. And once you figure it out, you’ll be excited for what’s ahead, no matter what obstacles you have to go through on the way.

It’s important to leave your comfort zone, no matter how hard it is to do so.I can almost guarantee that all of the good things/experiences that I’ve had, have been because I left my comfort zone. It’s one of the hardest things to convince yourself to do, but I PROMISE it will be worth it in the end.

People will always have an opinion on YOUR life, but that doesn’t make it relevant.I cannot count how many times someone has given me their unwanted opinion on how I live my life. Some people mean well, and some people just want to bring you down. Either way, you NEED to remember that their opinions aren’t always relevant!

Judging others won’t make your life better.This is so IMPORTANT! I used to judge almost everyone I came across, and not just lightly either. It only made me feel worse on the inside because I knew my judgments weren’t accurate either. I was just insecure and wanted to make myself feel better, but I promise you, judging others will not make you feel better! It’s not worth the negative energy.

LET IT GO.The Frozen movie got one thing right. Holding onto grudges will get you NO WHERE. It’s just not worth making yourself miserable over something you can easily let go.

Explore as much as you can!If there’s anything I regret doing, it’s not travelling more. I’ve been overseas twice, and taken two cruises but I wish I had also done more by now. Travelling makes you see life in the ‘bigger picture’ and it’s SO WORTH IT!

DO NOT worry about what other people think of you.This one is similar to #6. People will always have an opinion on your life, but they will also have an opinion on YOU. Chances are you can’t change that opinion, so why waste your time on worrying about what they think?

PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH RETAIL EMPLOYEES!This one is close to my heart. As a previous retail employee that also struggled with anxiety, it’s so important to be patient with them! Chances are they have no control over the prices of product, the system they use to process your transaction, and also sometimes with the way they were trained. Yelling and whinging about them is not going to help you, I promise. Just PLEASE be patient!

Do NOT blame your mistakes on others.Always own up to your own mistakes! It shows that you’re honest and not afraid of the potential consequences because you know that you were the person who made the mistake. Plus, majority of the time people will know you’re lying about who made the mistake.

Beauty isn’t necessarily what’s on the ‘outside’.The most beautiful people I have met are the ones with kind hearts. The ones who care about others and are compassionate. Those are the beautiful people to me.

We need ‘bad days’ to appreciate the good ones!This is a hard one to believe when you’re actually having a bad day, but they definitely make the good ones that much more precious.

Figure out your skills and invest in them.Your skills are obviously the things you are best at. For myself, my main skill is writing. I’ve always been good at writing so now I’m investing in that skill, by writing this blog and offering freelance writing services!

Sleep should be a priority.I should definitely take my own advice on this one. Some people are lucky enough to only need 5-6 hours of sleep per night to function normally, whereas I need at least 8 hours sleep!

Relationships (friends, family & romantic) are HARD work.It wasn’t until I started working full time that I realised how hard it is to maintain these relationships. You can’t just see these people whenever you want, and sometimes your time off will be when they’re working. It’s important to stay in touch with these people, no matter how difficult it is to do so.

There will always be someone ‘better’ than you.No matter what you do, there will always be someone who knows how to do it ‘better’ so to speak. Do not take it personally. Learn from these people!

The little things are generally the most important.This is something I didn’t realise until my partner left for basic training. I miss being able to hold his hand, cuddle on the couch, eat meals together, etc. It’s hard to remember how important these things are until they’re gone. Try not to take them for granted!

Financial knowledge is CRUCIAL.For my 21st birthday, one of my aunties gave me a book called The Barefoot Investor which is written by Scott Pape. I remember thinking ‘oh great, another one of those ‘financial help’ books.’ But oh boy was I wrong. This book is INCREDIBLE. I would recommend it to everyone.

LOVE YOURSELF!You can’t change the body you were born in and the person you are. So get to know yourself and all of your qualities. I promise you, you are worthy of love. But most importantly, you need to love yourself FIRST.

I hope you all enjoyed reading the lessons I’ve learnt!

If you want to see more posts just like this one, click the subscribe button below 🙂